Page 54 of Mage of the Dragon Prince
Auslin startled when a growl escaped from Kitaro. His blue eyes rimmed silver again as he stared at his father.
Tatsuki chuckled. “Calm yourself, son. You should know by now where our interests lie. We are not a threat.”
Kitaro bowed his head. “My sincerest apologies, Father.”
“You are merely fulfilling your duties as his guardian. No apology is necessary. Do take care, though. You are still inexperienced in matters such as this.”
“Yes, Father.”
“But enough of such talk. Let us discuss morepleasant things,” Tatsuki suggested before shifting the conversation to more benign topics.
Auslin did his best to contribute, but the baffling exchanges left him puzzled. It felt like he had missed something big. He couldn’t wait to get Kitaro alone to ask what exactly was going on with his family.
Chapter 25
Kitaro
Upon returning to their room after lunch, Kitaro worried about Vanra. He had said little since Mitsuki’s earlier outburst over breakfast. They sat in the chairs by the fireplace.
“Please do not feel badly about Mitsuki,” Kitaro urged the human.
“What happened? Because I feel like I missed something important.”
Kitaro held back a sigh. “Mitsuki lost his temper, as per usual. He is so disagreeably unreasonable.”
“But why? It seemed as if he was mad about a lot more than just the fact that I’m human.”
Kitaro uncharacteristically hesitated.
Unable to sit still, Vanra began pacing. “And what’s so special about the end of this week? What temptation was your father talking about? What is the ‘that’ he was referring to? And what are Enchanters?Why do you seem so reluctant about them? None of this makes any sense.”
Kitaro started with the basic issue underlying all the problems. “How familiar are you with shifter mating habits?”
The question stopped the human in his tracks. “What does that have to do with any of this?”
“Please.” Kitaro gestured for Vanra to return to his seat.
He dropped back into the massive chair with a heavy sigh. “Fine. I know shifters mate for life usually. There are obviously exceptions, as your father proves.”
“Correct. Do you know how shifters attract a partner?”
“In the higher ranks, I would assume it has to do more with building alliances through arranged marriages?”
“You are correct about that. What about those who are free to find their own partners?”
Vanra thought about it for a moment, then shrugged. “I assumed it was the same as humans: you find someone you like, and you mate.”
Kitaro got to the point. “Have you ever heard of a heat?”
“Isn’t that part of the shifter mating rituals?”
“It is a period of time, usually about a week long, when someone’s scent changes in order to attract a mate to them,” Kitaro explained.
“Like animals go into heat, right?”
Kitaro nodded. “Precisely. The resulting pheromones from heats play an important role in shifter mating practices.”
“But what does that have to do with me?”
